Ted Cruz said on Face the Nation that he didn't think Trump supporters would riot if their candidate was denied the nomination but that Trump would try his best to encourage them.

The Hill:

Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz in an interview broadcast Sunday rejected the notion that the nomination of a candidate other than front-runner Donald Trump would spark riots, but he said the billionaire may try to encourage them.

“No, it won't, although Donald may do everything he can to encourage riots,” Cruz said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“The last contested convention we had in 1976, Ronald Reagan had a million more votes than Gerald Ford. But Gerald Ford got the votes of the majority of the delegates,” he said.

“If you look back to the very first Republican convention in 1860, our very first candidate for president, Abraham Lincoln, came into a contested convention, and he was second in the balloting. And on the third ballot, he won a majority. The test is to win a majority.”

Cruz said Trump “cannot win a majority.”

“Majorities matter. And it's why Donald wants to change the rules and rig the system,” he added.

“You know, I'll use a football analogy. If you're on the 30-yard line, it's not a touchdown. Donald right now is on the 30-yard line and he wants everyone to say, ‘Hey, the game is over because, you know, I'm past the 50.’ So what? He cannot earn a majority.”

Trump himself gave validity to this argument back in March:

"I think you'd have riots," Trump continued. "I'm representing ... many, many millions of people, in many cases first-time voters."

"I wouldn't lead it, but I think bad things would happen," Trump predicted, adding later, "After we win, I think a lot of feelings will be soothed."

Does Trump really want his supporters to riot?  No, but the comment was typical Trump: thoughtless, irresponsible, off the cuff.  It's like absent-mindedly tossing a match into a gasoline dump.  Trump does not appear to have the self-restraint necessary to think before he speaks, which is a horrible character trait to have in a president.

Cruz can be faulted for suggesting something Trump would never overtly do.  The idea that he would openly "encourage" rioters is a smear.  But Trump brought this on himself, and he would do well to tread carefully when the subject of violence surrounding his campaign comes up.